Weekly anb10316.txt #7

[anb-bia <anb-bia at village.uunet.be>]

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WEEKLY NEWS ISSUE of: 31-10-2001      PART #6/7

* Somalia. Still struggling  -  20 October: The prime minister of Somalia's 
transitional government, Ali Khalif Galaydh, has warned the UN Security 
Council that his country could disintegrate and become a home for terrorist 
organisations if it is not given more international assistance. Mr Galaydh 
told the Security Council that although Somalia had been the recipient of 
generous humanitarian aid, it needed more money and assistance to build a 
properly functioning police force and state security apparatus. A recent 
report by the office of the UN Secretary General concluded that the Somali 
capital, Mogadishu, was still too insecure to establish a UN peace-building 
office. Somalia is a clear example of a country which will struggle to meet 
the high standards the UN Security Council is demanding in its push to 
eliminate global terrorism. After a decade of civil war it is still 
struggling to form a government that has support across the whole country. 
During an open debate on Somalia at the Security Council, Mr Galaydh warned 
there could be dire consequences if his plea for international assistance 
were ignored. "In the worst case scenario, Somalia will degenerate again 
into lawlessness, lack of central authority and then it will really be a 
self-fulfilling prophecy --this will be a place for terrorists, for people 
who are trafficking in drugs, people who are involved in arms trade and 
ultimately it's the Somali people who are going to suffer," he said. 
Comparisons were made between Afghanistan and Somalia by several Security 
Council members, with some warning that without assistance, Somalia could 
easily become another Afghanistan. The comparisons go beyond political and 
security similarities -- like Afghanistan, Somalia has also been gripped by 
drought conditions and Prime Minister Galaydh said one of the best forms of 
foreign aid at this point in time would be rainfall. 27 October: President 
Salad Hassan says that his fledging government will hold talks with 
opposition leaders in an attempt to bring them into his transitional 
administration. He says that talks between government officials and members 
of al alliance of faction leaders known as the Somali Reconciliation and 
Reconstruction Council, will be held in a neighbouring country "very soon". 
28 October: The government of Prime Minister Dr Ali Khalif Galaydh loses a 
parliamentary no-confidence vote. 174 of the TNA's 245 members take part in 
the no-confidence debate. The meeting is held under heavy security in a 
meeting hall in a former police academy in Mogadishu. A total of 141 
support the no-confidence motion, 29 vote against it, and four abstain. 29 
October: President Abdulkassim Salat Hassan begins discussions on the next 
move for Somalia following the sacking of the parliament and cabinet. He 
tells journalists the search is now on for a new prime minister with "the 
capacity to contribute to reconciliation" in the strife-torn country. The 
motion against Mr Galaydh and his cabinet was tabled last week by members 
of the Transitional National Assembly (TNA). The parliament said the 
government had failed to bring security and economic stability to the 
country after a year in office. The President says that once the new 
premier takes office, he will have 30 days to form a cabinet. He also says 
a delegation representing many of the country's warring factions will be 
travelling to Nairobi in early November for talks with Kenyan President 
Daniel arap Moi. Mr Moi has undertaken to mediate talks aimed at moving 
Somalia towards political reconciliation. 30 October: The UN Security 
Council recommends strengthening the peace process in Somalia amid fears of 
a threat to global security.   (ANB-BIA, Brussels, 31 October 2001)

* South Africa. Floral riches at risk  -  A UK-based group, Fauna and Flora 
International (FFI), is working with South African colleagues to save the 
unique Cape floral kingdom. It contains about 8,500 species, 5,800 of them 
found nowhere else on Earth. But 1,400 species are thought to be critically 
endangered and close to extinction. Now, conservationists have worked out a 
plan to protect the area against the multiple threats it faces. There are 
six floral kingdoms on Earth -- the Antarctic, Australasian, Boreal, 
Neotropic, Palaeotropic, and the Cape. Each is distinguished by the number 
of endemic species it contains (species found nowhere else). The Cape 
floral kingdom is botanically more diverse than the richest tropical 
rainforest. It occupies about 90,000 square kilometres (35,000 square 
miles) at Africa's southern tip, stretching along the coast either side of 
the Cape of Good Hope. The main plant community is known as the fynbos, 
Afrikaans for "fine bush", and a reference to the fine-leaved shrubby 
species that make up much of the vegetation. The fynbos constitutes 80% of 
the Cape floral kingdom. The fynbos also contains many broad-leaved 
species, and it resembles other vegetation types like the Mediterranean 
maquis. It contains more than 7,000 species, nearly 5,000 of them endemic. 
It produces a huge and colourful display of wild flowers, and is the origin 
of familiar plants like proteas, geraniums and freesias.   (BBC News, UK, 
18 October 2001)

* Afrique du Sud. Winnie Mandela inculpée  -  Le 18 octobre, Winnie 
Madikizela-Mandela, l'ex-épouse de l'ancien président sud-africain Nelson 
Mandela, a été inculpée pour fraude et vol dans une affaire de prêts 
bancaires. Elle s'est vue notifier 60 chefs d'inculpation pour fraude et 25 
autres pour vol, portant sur un montant global d'environ 1 million de rands 
($110.000). Elle a été remise en liberté provisoire contre versement d'une 
caution et sera reconvoquée le 20 novembre. Plusieurs fois mise en cause à 
la fin des années 90 dans des affaires de meurtres et d'enlèvements commis 
par son entourage aux temps de la lutte contre l'apartheid, Winnie Mandela 
a toujours réussi à s'en sortir et à conserver sa popularité dans les 
townships.   (D'après Libération, France, 19 octobre 2001)

* South Africa. Study Aid Scheme  -  South Africa's student financial aid 
scheme, which is year spending 26 million pounds supporting more than 
81,000 needy scholars, is to be reviewed under the Department of 
Education's new National Plan for Higher Education. The government wants to 
know how the scheme can help improve access to public higher education, 
which is faced with dwindling student numbers, and how it can raise student 
success rates. Pretoria has also asked the scheme's board to review income 
cut-off levels, coverage, the practice of not providing full-cost loans and 
the possibility of targeting priority fields for support. The Education 
Minister, Professor Kader Asmal, says the government was committed to 
ensuring that able but poor students were not excluded from higher 
education. The importance, attached to student aid, he says, is indicated 
by the fact that the scheme became a statutory agency in 2000, and by state 
allocations of 2.1 billion rands since 1994. A total of 2.9 billion rands 
has been spent on loans and bursaries since then. Numbers of students 
helped rose from 72,000 in 1996 to 81,000 this year. All in all, more than 
376000 poor students received financial assistance in the five years to 
2000. Loan recovery from graduates has begun in earnest, with 27.5 million 
recovered in the past financial year. Roy Jackson, chief executive officer 
of the Tertiary Education Fund that operates the scheme, expects 160 
million rands to be recovered in the current financial year, thanks to new 
laws that enable the fund to dock repayments from graduates' salaries via 
employers and banks. Universities and technikons are allocated funds to 
cover the fees of poor students according to the demographic profile of 
their students. Students are eligible for loans and bursaries that cover 
fees, accommodation and books, based on their academic potential and family 
income. Those who achieve good results are able to convert 40 per cent of 
their loan into a bursary that does not have to be repaid, providing an 
incentive to succeed.   (James Brew, ANB-BIA, South Africa, 21 October 2001)

* Afrique du Sud. Violences xénophobes  -  Le lundi 22 octobre, la police a 
tiré des balles en caoutchouc pour disperser une foule qui venait 
d'incendier deux baraquements de Zimbabwéens dans un bidonville de 
Zandspruit (Johannesburg), a annoncé la radio sud-africaine. La veille, 105 
habitations de fortune occupées par des Zimbabwéens avaient été détruites 
et 174 pillées dans le même campement, qui compte 50.000 habitants. La 
population du bidonville avait adressé un ultimatum aux Zimbabwéens, 
exigeant qu'ils quittent les lieux dans les dix jours. Après l'expiration 
de ce délai, ils ont décidé d'expulser les Zimbabwéens et de détruire leurs 
baraques. Des habitants ont expliqué qu'ils étaient furieux de constater 
que les Zimbabwéens avaient un travail, alors qu'eux étaient sans emploi. 
Ils ont aussi ajouté que les étrangers étaient responsables de la 
criminalité. - Dans la nuit du 23 octobre, il y a eu d'autres incendies et 
pillages à Zandspruit. Malgré une forte présence de la police, d'autres 
maisons appartenant à des Zimbabwéens ont été incendiées. Des milliers de 
Zimbabwéens terrifiés sont allés se réfugier au poste de police voisin 
d'Honeydew. La police a arrêté 20 personnes accusées de violences. La 
Commission sud-africaine des droits de l'homme a condamné les 
attaques.   (ANB-BIA, de sources diverses, 24 octobre 2001)

* Afrique du Sud. Sida: Mbeki récidive  -  Le président sud-africain Thabo 
Mbeki a déclaré que les traitements antirétroviraux étaient aussi dangereux 
que le sida. Mbeki avait déjà mis en cause le lien entre VIH et sida, et le 
rapport du Conseil de la recherche médicale sud-africain, selon lequel le 
sida est la principale cause de mortalité dans le pays.   (Libération, 
France, 25 octobre 2001)

* South Africa. "Co-operative government"  -  29 October: South Africa's 
white-led opposition alliance has collapsed after the defection of the New 
National Party (NNP), the rump of the old apartheid movement, to seek an 
accommodation with the African National Congress. Its split from the 
Democratic Alliance, which it created 16 months ago with the Democratic 
Party and a small Afrikaner nationalist party, was brought about by the 
sacking of Cape Town's NNP mayor for his role in fabricating petitions in 
support of re-naming streets after former Presidents Mandela and de Klerk. 
30 October: The NNP is in crisis as many members express opposition to a 
leadership decision to forge an alliance with the ANC. However, the NNP's 
leader, Marthinius van Schalkwyk, says his party is not seeking to merge 
with the ANC, but is interested in "Co-operative government".   (ANB-BIA, 
Brussels, 31 October 2001)

* Soudan. Attaques des zones pétrolières  -  Entre le 12 et le 20 octobre, 
les rebelles du SPLA (Armée populaire de libération du Soudan) ont attaqué 
trois zones pétrolières situées dans les Etats d'Al Wihda, Nil supérieur et 
Bahr el-Ghazal. Selon le porte-parole des rebelles, ceux-ci auraient tué 
plus de 400 soldats et se seraient emparés d'un grand nombre d'armes et de 
munitions. Il a précisé que les opérations continueraient pour paralyser le 
business de l'or noir, à l'origine de "la mort et la fuite des habitants, 
et dont les gains renforcent le régime terroriste de Khartoum". Les 
rebelles relancent leur ultimatum aux compagnies pétrolières, les sommant 
de quitter le pays. - D'autre part, dans la nuit du 20 au 21 octobre, un 
avion de l'armée gouvernementale a bombardé des villages de la zone de 
Sopo, dans l'ouest du Bahr el-Ghazal, faisant 12 morts et de nombreux 
blessés. Selon le SPLA, les bombes utilisées étaient des bombes au napalm. 
24 heures après le raid, les zones touchées étaient toujours en flammes. Le 
SPLA a demandé que des experts internationaux vérifient la nature des 
explosifs largués.   (D'après Misna, Italie, 22 octobre 2001)

* Swaziland. Democracy meetings broken up  -  20 October: Police in 
Swaziland have forcibly broken up a banned news conference organised by a 
pro-democracy alliance. The meeting with journalists was called to announce 
a programme of action to win the release of a detained opposition 
politician on treason charges. But the police issued a statement saying it 
could not go ahead because "such a conference will adversely affect the 
security of the country". Thulani Mthethwa of the Guardian newspaper of 
Swaziland, who was at the press conference, said: "They have ordered 
everybody, local and regional journalists to leave the house, and have 
assaulted one photographer,". The Swaziland Democratic Alliance includes 
civic groups, opposition parties, students and trade unionists. Alliance 
representative Jan Sithole said that protesters were prepared to pay any 
price for freedom. Detained politician Mario Masuku, of the People's United 
Democratic Movement is facing charges of sedition and faces up to 20 years 
in jail. Mr Sithole said Mr Masuku had been detained because of the views 
he was expressing, which were not treasonous by international standards. A 
year ago Mr Masuku had called on Swazis at a rally to "do away with the 
Mswati government" -- referring to King Mswati III. 27 October: Opposition 
grows against the king's order for teenage girls to preserve their 
virginity, as it appears that the army could get involved. 29 October: Riot 
police have contained a pro-democracy protest outside the High 
Court.   (ANB-BIA, Brussels, 30 October 2001)

* Tchad. Grève dans le secteur sanitaire  -  Le 24 octobre, le gouvernement 
a ordonné aux fonctionnaires de la santé publique de reprendre le travail 
dans les hôpitaux de la capitale N'Djamena. Une centaine de professionnels 
sont touchés par cette décision. Le 15 octobre, les fonctionnaires de la 
santé publique avaient entamé une grève pour forcer le gouvernement à payer 
des arriérés de salaire. A travers le pays, les hôpitaux et les centres de 
santé fontionnent avec un personnel réduit. La décision du gouvernemnt est 
fondée sur un décret présidentiel stipulant qu'en cas de grève le 
gouvernement a le pouvoir d'appeler les fonctionnaires à reprendre le 
travail.   (IRIN, Abidjan, 25 octobre 2001)

Weekly anb1031.txt - End of part 6/7